The invention relates to a bicycle carrier, particularly a carrier for attachment to a spare wheel mount secured to a generally vertical panel of a vehicle, typically at the rear of the vehicle.
There are many types of bicycle carriers for attachment to vehicles to enable one or more bicycles to be easily carried on the vehicle. Some bicycle carriers are secured to the roof of the vehicle but these can be difficult to load with the bicycle, and also considerably increase height of the vehicle, thus limiting parking options etc. of the vehicle when carrying bicycles. Other types of carriers are secured to the rear bumper of the vehicle, but securing this type can present difficulties with modern vehicles with "faired-in" bumpers, in which commonly there is no simple way of connecting the carrier.
With many prior art bicycle carriers, the carrier can be easily removed from the vehicle using common tools. Consequently, locking the bicycle to the carrier in an attempt to secure the bicycle against theft can be easily overcome by removing the carrier as well as the bicycle.
Many rough road or back country vehicles carry a spare wheel on a vertical rear panel of the vehicle. Typically, a spare wheel mount extends rearwardly from the rear panel and is provided with studs which register with stud openings in the hub of the spare wheel. Because the spare wheel often projects rearwardly of the bumper, mounting of the spare wheel in this manner restricts use of some types of bumper-mounted rear wheel carriers. Even if a bumper-mounted carrier can be fitted to the rear bumper of the vehicle, difficulty can be experienced when removing the spare wheel from the vehicle, especially if the bicycle carrier must first be removed to permit the spare wheel to be removed. This can be difficult if the securing nuts and bolts of the carrier have rusted or become damaged from accidental impact.